Borough archivists took a trip down memory lane – revisiting sweet and significant moments of bygone times and tracing close to 400 years of local history – during a fair at the Canarsie History Museum, which also served as a book release celebration for Founder Ramon Martinez’s new tome, “Canarsie: The Real History Behind Brooklyn and New York.”
The seventh annual expo acquainted curious visitors with Canarsie’s unique roots, showcasing through documents, photographs and artifacts the neighborhood’s rich past, including its Native Americans and African American populations in addition to its transit and municipal histories.
On display at the quaint repository – temporarily housed in the American Legion hall at Conklin Avenue and East 92nd Street – were early depictions of Golden City, a glittering amusement park at Seaview Avenue and Canarsie Road, which was paved over in the 1930s to make room for the Belt Parkway. Other photographs on display, from the collection of Canarsie Historical Society President Ira Kluger, depict some of the park’s many amusement rides, from 1907 when Golden City made its debut to 1909 when many of the rides were destroyed.
Canarsie may have also been one of Brooklyn’s first vacation towns, says Martinez, since the neighborhood once boasted close to 50 hotels, mostly on Avenue L, towards the shore.
“In the 1860s, Canarsie only had a population of 3,000 but the steam trains were bringing in 30,000 people annually,” he says, adding his ever−expanding museum is collaborating with the National Parks Service at Canarsie Pier to mount a display that “seeks to glimpse back” into the area’s past before the pier was erected, and includes several pieces from the neighborhood’s fishing industry.
